Products May 28, 2015

Transamerica App Could Boost Participant Engagement

Retirement plan participants gain a clearer understanding of their personal retirement picture with the app’s OnTrack tool.
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Transamerica Retirement Solutions has updated My TRSRetire, its mobile application for participants.

New features on the app—including an overview of accounts and transactional capability—give retirement plan participants access to their retirement accounts from a mobile device. Retirement plan participants have access to all their Transamerica retirement plan accounts, so they can view account and loan balances, current asset allocation, and personal rate of return information.

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The app also lets participants complete transactions—including managing contributions and updating investment allocations—to strengthen their engagement with the plan. According to Transamerica, when retirement plan participants are digitally engaged with their accounts, they save more on average than those who are not.

The My TRSRetire app aims to streamline retirement planning by actually showing plan participants whether or not they are on course to reach their retirement income goals. If the picture needs improving, the app allows them to take immediate action to get back on course.

Users gain a clearer understanding of their personal retirement picture with the app’s OnTrack tool. This feature provides a snapshot of the user’s current retirement strategy and projected retirement income along with a retirement forecast, represented by rainy, cloudy, partly sunny or sunny weather icons. This way, participants can quickly assess retirement needs, model different savings rates and investment allocation mixes, and receive immediate feedback about how each strategy might impact their retirement prospects. If they want to take action, they are a few clicks away from completing the appropriate transaction on a mobile device.

The goal in redesigning the app was to make retirement planning and preparation accessible and convenient, Stig Nybo, president of U.S. retirement strategy at Transamerica, said in a statement. “Participants can take control of their retirement planning through an intuitive tool that will help them understand their retirement forecast and provide guidance to improve their retirement readiness.” 

Transamerica is expanding the app’s availability to a growing number of plan participants. The app can be downloaded from the Apple store or from Google Play for Android devices.

Break from the Grind May 28, 2015

A Little Friday File Fun

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In Berlin, Germany, a thief broke into the new interior ministry headquarters days before staff moved in—and stole the toilet seats. In addition, the thief stole the faucets and toilet paper holders. “Many of the toilets are unusable. The atmosphere is rather strained,” said an employee who chose to remain anonymous, according the UK’s The Telegraph.

In Aspen, Colorado, a man accused of violating a restraining order came into court and placed a stuffed owl on the table in front of him. According to UPI, the man told the judge: “He’s a very sensitive guy, has law degrees from Yale, Harvard and Stanford. I think he’ll be able to represent me before a public defender comes online.”

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In Seattle, Washington, a couple checked online and discovered they had a lottery ticket worth $1 million. Their luck could have turned sour when a thief broke into their car, where the lottery ticket was laying in plain view. However, the thief stole only a pair of sunglasses sitting on top of the ticket and left the ticket in the car.

In Knoxville, Tennessee, a Delta flight from Philadelphia to Atlanta was diverted to Knoxville about 2 p.m. Tuesday due to weather in Georgia. Soon Twitter was abuzz with reports that the captain and crew had ordered pizza for the whole plane, according to the Associated Press. Delta spokesman Morgan Durrant said the pizza party was part of a new airline policy. “It’s part of an effort company-wide when weather disrupts our operation to get food and beverages to delayed customers,” Durrant told CNN.

In Chongqing, China, the goalkeeper for the Chongqing Lifan soccer team was sipping on his water bottle next to the goal during a game when a midfielder for the Lianoning Whowin team kicked the ball into the untended goal. UPI reports that the goalkeeper, who apologized to the team in private, was fined $8,064 for missing the goal, which cost Chongqing their lead and led to the game finishing in a tie.

In Quincy, Illinois, a couple, married for 59 years and having 12 children, welcomed their 100th grandchild recently. They have 53 grandchildren, 46 great-grandchildren, and the birth of a great-great-grandson on April 8 brought the total to 100.

Some of this guy’s animal impressions are amazing.

If you can't view the below video, try https://youtu.be/2Qa9YDgtcaM

I thought scarecrows were supposed to scare birds AWAY from gardens.

If you can't view the below video, try https://youtu.be/K5Uj4zIWe3Y

Ways to trick your sense of touch.

If you can't view the below video, try https://youtu.be/alubBa1s2G0

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